As you may have noticed, I get excited easily over edible plants and trees. To date, however, no member of the plant kingdom gets me quite as thrilled as the beautiful, unique, and yes, edible Ginkgo Biloba, or Maidenhair tree.
Ginkgo is an old tree. Do a Google search for “Ginkgo biloba living fossil” and you get a boat-load of results. It’s widely believed to have been around for well over 200 million years! In fact, it is the only species in it’s genus that is still around today.
Ginkgo was used widely in ancient times in Asia for it’s seed, which is called a ginkgo nut, despite the fact that it isn’t a nut at all. The nut is sweet and flavorful and still highly valued in Chinese cuisine. Although when eaten in large quantities it can be toxic.
You’ve probably seen ginkgo capsules at health food or drug stores. The powdered leaves used in these supplements have gained popularity for a wide variety of claims, ranging from easing tinnitus to improving blood flow to it’s most popular use- improving short term memory.
The scientific community has apparently taken some interest in the plant and several studies have been published supporting and contradicting these claims. However, several studies did come to the conclusion that in some instances taking ginkgo supplements can dramatically improve attention in healthy people. How can you know for sure? Start taking it. If it works for you- great! Some people swear by it, others think it’s a sham.
Growing Ginkgo
Ginkgo is one tough tree. Taking a peek at this link should quell all doubts on that front. If an atomic bomb blast won’t kill it, I rather doubt I could kill it either. You can grow it in your yard fairly easily. It requires very little care aside from average water requirements. It’s also pretty cold hardy, taking temperatures down to -30 degrees F.
You won’t have to worry about replacing it in the years to come either, some individual trees are believed to be 1,500 years old! People will be enjoying your beautiful ginkgo tree for generations.
Ginkgo is also unique in the fact that it’s trees are either male or female. If you get seedlings, you won’t know which gender you have until they start producing in 10 years or so. If you’re growing it for the leaf it doesn’t matter, but if you want the collect and eat the seed you will need one of each gender. For this, you will have to buy named grafted trees that are identifiably male or female. Grafted trees produce much quicker- under five years.
A quick warning about the seed- If left on the ground they will rot and stink. And I mean stink bad. The last thing you want is a smelly garden, and while it might be a good way to get back at your neighbors for that noisy dog, you’d have to put up with it as well. So if you grow it for the seed, be sure to collect and use all of them (they can be frozen), or dispose of the excess some other way (they produce over 30lbs on a mature tree).
Ginkgo is a great ornamental tree. The unique fan shaped leaves are very interesting, especially in the fall when they blaze into bright yellow in a breathtaking display. It grows to a height from 30’ to some trees measuring over 120’! So it’s a big guy.
Ginkgo is starting to become more popular in garden centers, but you may want to shop online for the grafted varieties you want. Onegreenworld.com has a good male selection and a few great nut-producing females. If the nuts aren’t important to you, seedlings are readily available. One Green World also has a great little booklet about growing and using this awesome tree.
